


Aftermath

by leighemersona



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-02
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-10-26 19:45:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10793502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leighemersona/pseuds/leighemersona
Summary: It's a couple of nights after they've rescued Alex. Both Maggie and Alex are struggling with what happened, but they are there for each other.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Set after 2x19. Hopefully you guys like it! Thank you in advance for reading it!

The water was coming in as though it had the force of a river behind it. Her jeans were already soaked up to her thighs and it was rising steadily up her body. She felt the cold of the water and soon afterwards stopped feeling it because she had gone numb. She was swimming now, not standing, and her fight was slowly leaving her limbs as they shook with exhaustion and she saw that her fingertips were tinted blue. 

She had a mantra going through her mind though, Kara and Maggie are coming, which she repeated to herself over and over and tried not to think about how the grate overhead was getting closer and closer. She knew that if she could just keep on fighting just a little bit longer, a little bit harder, that her two favorite people would come and this would all end like a bad dream. 

She no longer knew how much time had passed since she had started to tread water. Her face was inches away from the top of the tank now, and now it was pushing up against the metal, which felt like fire to her icy skin. 

Kara and Maggie are coming, Kara and Maggie are coming, Kara and Maggie are coming. 

Kara and Maggie aren’t coming. 

 

Alex sat up as though a jolt of electricity had gone through her body. She was gasping for air and her lungs weren’t cooperating. She saw black around her vision for a moment until she realized that she was awake. The instant that that happened, her lungs started to work again and she took in three huge breaths trying to calm her body down which still felt like it was in her dream. In the tank. 

Alex looked over to Maggie, expecting to see her asleep, but instead saw her sitting up near her pillow, legs pulled up to her chest. 

It was silent for a beat before Alex reached out, skating her hand on the bed, until it was next to Maggie. Alex asked with her eyes for permission to touch her and Maggie just nodded slightly, not really ever looking directly at Alex. Alex ghosted her hand over Maggie’s calf before reaching out to touch her knee which was directly in line with her face. Alex let her hand sit for a moment, not wanting to move too fast in case it upset Maggie. She waited just a moment before pulling on Maggie’s knee lightly and straightening out her leg. 

Maggie still wouldn’t look at her and Alex saw tear tracks on her face, long since dried, which meant that Maggie had been awake for some time. Alex scooted closer to Maggie before straightening out her other leg. 

Alex pulled herself in between Maggie’s legs and faced her, waiting for Maggie to say something. 

It was still quiet by the time Alex had finished massaging both of Maggie’s legs, gently kneading them. It was still quiet by the time Alex had finished putting lotion on her legs as well, and it was still silent when Alex moved to lay down in between Maggie’s legs, her head resting on Maggie’s stomach, arms on either side of Maggie’s body.  

Maggie had laid down when Alex had begun the massage, trying to relax because she knew that that's what Alex had wanted her to do. Now she had her hands in Alex’s hair, slowly stroking her hair, savoring the feeling of the moment before she opened her mouth. Savoring the feeling of being taken care of before it was overshadowed by the feeling of guilt for having to be taken care of by Alex, the woman that she was supposed to be protecting, the person that she was supposed to be taking care of. 

“Al? You awake?” Maggie asked quietly, her voice low so as not to wake Alex in case she had fallen asleep. 

Maggie felt Alex stir and shifted around when Alex slowly moved up her body and to the side so that they were now face to face while laying down. 

“I wasn’t going to fall asleep on you Mags. Not tonight. Not any night actually when you need me.” Alex said simply and without any regret in her voice. 

Maggie stared at her and then furrowed her eyebrows, confusing Alex completely. 

“Wait, sorry if that was the wrong thing. Next time I’ll just fall asleep on you.” Alex said, trying to diffuse Maggie’s mood with a joke. 

“No, it’s not that. It’s just...Alex you almost died two nights ago.” Maggie said and then stopped because she saw the flash in Alex’s eyes, the flash of panic, the flash at the thought of the tank. She felt Alex’s entire body tense up as well. As if her muscles were remembering how they felt while treading water for all those hours, as if they could still feel the near hypothermia that had almost settled in. 

“I..I know that Maggie. But I didn’t die. You and Kara got there in time. You guys got me, and I’m here. Safe and sound and warm.” Alex said with a tight smile. 

Maggie went quiet again before saying a small voice, without looking at Alex, “But what if we hadn’t gotten there.”

And then Maggie was crying. 

And then Alex was saying, “Oh Maggie” before wrapping her up in her arms. 

And then Maggie was yelling.

Yelling at herself.

“No dammit, this is not how this should be going! Alex, you should not be the one comforting me right now. I should be stronger than this. I should be...stronger...I should be…” Maggie trailed off, her sobs taking over her voice. Alex just pulled her in closer and shifted so that they were leaning up against their pillows. She was supporting Maggie’s weight and began to slowly rock her, waiting until the sobs turned to hiccups and the hiccups turned to sniffles. 

“Maggie, I want you to listen to me. I...am not fine. But I’ll get there. I know that I almost died. I know that, trust me. And trust me when I say that I know that you are going to be there for me when I need it. But right now, right now baby I am here to help. You don’t need to feel guilty for needing help. You went through shit too when I was gone. And I’m so sorry that I wasn’t there to help. But please do not feel guilty for this. Please. Don’t dwell on the what-if factor either. There is no what-if because you and Kara got to me in time to save me. There was never going to be a what-if, that was always going to be a guarantee and I never lost faith in you two. In you. I never stopped believing that I would get to see you again. I never lost faith that I was going to say I love you.”

They were both still. 

They were both quiet.

Maggie was the first to break the spell.

“Danvers, how did I get so damn lucky?”

Alex smiled and looked down at Maggie, who had turned her face to look up at Alex.

“I think I’m the lucky one actually Sawyer.” Alex said while she brought her hand up to wipe away the tears on Maggie’s face. 

Maggie leaned into her hand and kissed the side of it before sighing and wrapping her arms around Alex’s waist. 

“Thank you Alex.” 


	2. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex is the one who needs comfort in this chapter. Maggie gladly provides that support and comfort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't for sure that I was going to add onto this, but I had another story idea that fits with the first chapter so enjoy! And thank you to everyone who read chapter 1!

Alex says that she's fine.

Even after the events of last night, when Maggie and her stayed up, talking around and about the incident. Even after she told Maggie that she wasn't going anywhere. 

Alex says that she's fine. 

So when they're on their fourth episode of CSI in their impromptu marathon since they both had the day off, Alex still says she's fine. 

Maggie gets up to go and make some more popcorn and to order a pizza, leaving Alex alone on the couch, watching one of her favorite story arcs in the series, or at least what used to be one of her favorites. Now as she watches the man on the screen get taken, get put into a box underground, that panic that she's been fighting comes back. She watches as he screams, watches as he realizes that his air is running out, and watches the reactions of his team members who are doing their best to find him. And then the air around her seems too heavy, and the air around her seems to be leaving, almost laughing as it goes everywhere but her lungs. Then she can feel the pull of the water again, asking her to just let go, to let the cold seep into her body, to give up hope that Maggie and Kara are coming. 

When Maggie gets back to the couch, she finds Alex curled up into a ball, sweat peppering her forehead while she shivers. 

"Oh Alex, oh honey, what happened?" Maggie says in a quiet voice, trying not to let the worry coat her voice too much because she knows that Alex will retreat into herself more if she thinks that anyone is feeling concerned about her. 

Alex doesn't move, doesn't give any indication that she heard what Maggie said, and still doesn't move when Maggie kneels down in front of her on the floor. 

Maggie moves her hand and lets it hang in the air above Alex's arm and asks with her eyes, asks with the tilt of her head, for permission to touch Alex. 

Alex still doesn't move.

And now Maggie sees that she's barely breathing. 

Maggie gets up and sits next to Alex down by her head on the couch. She tugs on Alex's sleeve of her sweater, pulling her lightly to move her head into Maggie's lap. Alex moves slowly, painfully slow to Maggie who still hasn't seen her take a real breath since she got back. Alex lays her head over Maggie's thighs and takes a shallow, shaky breath.

"Alex I'm going to count to three, and then I want you to take a big breath for me ok? I'm going to do it with you. On three." Maggie says and counts, pulling in air into her lungs, wishing that she could give it all to Alex, who on three, took hardly anything.

"Ok lets do it again. On three." Maggie continues to count, over and over, until she feels Alex take in regular breaths again. Until she knows that Alex isn't going to pass out. Until she knows that Alex is back in her body, and not wherever she had gone to. 

Alex stays silent though, for a long time after she had taken a real solid breath again. Maggie knows that she's beating herself up, knows that she's feeling sorry for herself. 

"Hey, Alex. You know you're safe here with me right? And you know that you can take your own advice too, that it's ok not to be ok sometimes?" Maggie says cautiously. 

Alex scoots closer to Maggie and wraps her arms around her waist, Maggie moving to put her arms over Alex, protecting her as best she could from her own thoughts. 

"Maggie...I....I don't know what happened. I just....." Alex started and stopped, not knowing what she was trying to say. 

"Alex it's ok." Maggie says. She pulls Alex up her body, and starts rubbing circles in her back.

"I just. We were watching TV and everything was fine and then it wasn't. It just wasn't. How are you ok with being with a person who is fine one moment and catatonic the next? That's not something that you agreed to when you signed onto this thing." Alex says in a low voice. 

"No" Maggie says almost instantly. 

"No? Maggie what-"

"No, you don't get to choose what I signed up for in this relationship and what I didn't. I signed on for you Alex. All of you. All of the scary parts and the dark parts and the haunted parts. I want and get all of them. Sure, the whole kidnapping thing scared the shit out of me, you know that, but I'm still here, and I'm not going anywhere. You told me that you were going to need me to help get through this, so you don't get to decide when it's too much. I'm right here for you Alex." Maggie says in a tone that would rival Kara's superhero speech voice.

And then Alex is the one crying. 

And then Maggie is the one who is rocking Alex on the couch, reminding her over and over again that she is right here for her. 

"Maggie thank you. I know that's not enough to say, god I don't even know the right words to say that would be enough for you, but thank you" Alex says in a small voice, content with just laying on the couch with Maggie. 

Maggie just hums in response and continues to rub circles into Alex's back. 

They both jump when the doorbell rings.

"Oh right, the pizza." Maggie says and then Alex is laughing.

"Pizza is just what we need. Pizza and crying go hand in hand you know." Alex says and disentangles herself from Maggie and the couch. She gets up and wipes her face and looks at Maggie who is already looking at her.

"I've got it, don't get up" Alex says and grabs her wallet from the side table before going to the door. 

Maggie watches her, and watches as she talks to their favorite pizza delivery guy, and smiles when she flashes a small smile back at Maggie. And Maggie is still smiling when Alex comes back, because Maggie knows that the two of them are going to be ok, so long as they have each other. 


End file.
